MANKATO, Minn. -- The No. 15 Minnesota State (2-0-0) women's hockey team begins WCHA play this weekend with a two game home series against No. 13 St. Cloud State (2-0-0). Puck drops are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mavericks opened their season last weekend with a two-game sweep over RPI. In Friday's game, Lauren Zawoyski, Makayla Moran, and Neely Hawn all had multi point games in a 4-1 win. Zawoyski scored on a 5-on-3 power play, while Moran, Bella Shipley and Ayla Puppe all scored at even strength. Hailey Hansen made 16 saves in the win.
Saturday saw the Mavericks complete the sweep in a 5-3 game. The second line of Zoe Lopez, Sophie Stramel, and Mercury Bischoff dominated scoring four goals while all having at least two points. Bischoff and Lopez both scored twice, and Stramel dished out two assists. Lucie Tenenbaum scored an empty netter and added an assist, leading to her being named the WCHA Defender of the Week.
Bischoff led the team with four points over the weekend, and Puppe was second with three. Hansen allowed four goals, posted a .900 save percentage and won both games as she inches closer to the program record for wins by a goaltender.
Scouting the Huskies:
St. Cloud State is coming off a sweep of their own to start the season, beating UConn 4-2 in both games. With the sweep, the Huskies jumped into the top 15 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls after receiving votes in the preseason polls. Captain forward Alice Sauriol had a big weekend scoring three goals and adding three assists as she was named WCHA Forward of the Week. Sofianna Sundelin also had a strong start to her season scoring two goals and recoding two assists. Goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö held UConn in check during the weekend, making 51 saves while posting a .927 save percentage. T
Sauriol scored twice in the opener while Sundelin and Laura Zimmerman also found the back of the net to give the Huskies a 4-2 win, while Anna Sviridova recorded two assists in the game. Sundelin and Sauriol both found their way onto the scoresheet in the finale as Sauriol added another three-point game.
The Huskies failed to score a power play goal in four chances, but did not allow a power play goal, killing both UConn chances on the skater advantage. Led by second year head coach Mira Jalosuo, St. Cloud State looks to build off a 7-19-2 record in the WCHA and 12-23-2 overall.
All-Time Series:
Minnesota State is behind in the all-time series with a record of 45-56-14. The two teams split the season series last year 2-2; the Mavericks won a 3-2 game in overtime as Kamryn Van Batavia scored the OT winner at the Mayo Clinic HSEC. The Mavericks are 22-24-7 at home in the series and are 4-5-1 in the last ten matchups. St. Cloud State last won in Mankato last season on December 5th, shutting out the Minnesota State 4-0 in a game where they scored on their very first shot. During the all-time series, the Mavericks have scored 261 goals, averaging 2.27 per game.
Watch Live:
Both games will be streamed live on B1G+ (bigtenplustv.com).
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